Various machines have heretofore been made for loading groups of articles such as cylindrical containers into flanged trays. The tray flanges constitute a significant portion of the material required for making the trays and savings in material and hence cost can be achieved by use of flat pads having an area generally corresponding to only that required for the bottom of the flanged trays. However, prior packaging machines for loading groups of articles into flanged trays relied on the tray flanges to locate the articles during loading of the articles on the trays and to retain the articles during transfer of the trays with the articles loaded thereon to a subsequent wrapping apparatus, and such prior tray loading machines are neither constructed or adapted for loading articles onto flat pads and transferring the pads with an article group thereon to a subsequent wrapping machine.
Prior packaging machines for loading articles into trays also required relatively complex apparatus for erecting the tray flanges and which significantly increased the overall cost of such machines.